Frank D. O'Connor

Frank D. O'Connor (1909-1992) was a prominent New York City political figure who served for ten years as district attorney of Queens County, New York.

O'Connor was born in Manhattan, the son of Irish immigrants. He earned a law degree at Brooklyn Law School and served in the Coast Guard during World War II. He later practiced law in Queens and became active in the Democratic Party.

O’Connor served in the New York State Senate from Queens in the late 1940s and 1950s. He gained fame as a lawyer in 1953, when he defended Christopher Emanuel Balestrero, a bass player at the Stork Club falsely accused of robbery. The story was the basis of the 1956 Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Wrong Man. Henry Fonda played Balestrero, and O'Connor was portrayed by Anthony Quayle.

O'Connor was elected Queens district attorney in 1955, serving until 1965. He later served as president of the City Council and ran unsuccessfully for Governor against Nelson Rockefeller in 1966. He became a New York State Supreme Court justice from 1968 until 1976, when Governor Hugh L. Carey appointed him to the Appellate Division. He retired in 1986.

References

* [http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=216 Biography of Frank D. O'Connor, New York City Department of Parks]